An apocolypse herd/flock

[perchie.girl]

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LOL.... being prepared doesnt happen over night. It takes making one step like learning to rotate canned goods as well as knowing which ones will last longer than their expiration date. A good place to start is with Chickens... With me I started back in the sixties with education. Yep I do have MREs just bought a case. Those are for sudden disaster and being cut off from everything. Something southern Californians are too well familiar with. Fire and Earthquake are the biggies.

There is a bunch of stuff you can do with your own pantry to be prepared right in the city. Which is where a lot of people will still be.... Self fulfilling or no its just a good idea to be able to live off your larder for several weeks Heck even if you lost your job its a good idea. And knowing what things around you can supplement your larder.

When I was younger Euel Gibbons was popular and was also someone everyone made fun of. But he presented something that many people had forgotton about. How much food there is out in the hills every where if you are educated and willing to go out and gather it. I have gone out in spring time on horse back and gathered enough Mustard greens to feed the whole family. You mentioned Cattails.... There are also Cray fish if you are working on cattails might as well go for some cray fish too. Even here in the desert. Many species of Cactus and yucca are edible. Yucca flowers before the open can be roasted similar to squash. Agave can also be a source for starch and sugar and yes even Alcohol. The fiber from Agave can be woven too for Screening and or burlap style bags. Several plants on my property are excellent herbals for Colds and fever.

 

[dawnwinds58]

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Nope, wouldn't have large ones with the food ratio they have and how easy it would be to target one. Don't freak either, I love the big ones. My Saint Bernard was 250lb of love and drool, but we're talking protection. For livestock a lean guardian breed, but for home, my pack of Rat Terriers are working dogs. They kill vermin, rats and snakes, and keep the coyotes off my chicken and geese, and never miss raising an alarm on 2-legged vermin as well. I have 6, standards with Decker blood, running from 20 to 35 lbs. They make great foot and lap warmers as well.

 

[calicocallie]

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Thanks for the tip om Lemans! Actually we haven't had trouble with any of the chicken breeds here, other than predators. The guineas tend to survive and breed alot better when free range, but I think we've finally got the chicken yard secure. (keeping fingers crossed)

Candace

 

[calicocallie]

To CalicoCallie: I dehydrate almost everything instead of canning. That way it doesn't matter if my rubber gaskets get a little old. Can re-use anyway. We're working on building a solar dehydrator (screening and frames) for when we don't have electricity to use my electric driers. Also good for large harvests.



I.ve thought about dehydrating, but was under the impression that it is too humid in Louisiana for it to be reliable. Things tend to mold before they dry out. Maybe I'll look into it abit further. Thanks!

 

[KristyHall]

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also lactic fermentation is a great method of preserving

 

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

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I dehydrate until as dry as possible. Freeze 24-48 hours to kill any possible bugs. Dehydrate another 1-2 hours. Once cooled, place in "freezer baggie" inside a canning jar. Fill to top. Close bag, squeezing out any extra air. Screw lid on canning jar. Wrap glass jar in dark paper (we use construction paper ... an art project for homeschooling) and label contents and date. Store in cool dry place (basement is ok).

Even in humid places, this should work. I mean, won't stand up to submersion in water but still ... take precautions.

Sometimes I place the jars in a bucket, and seal with dessicant. Definitely keeps out moisture.

KristyHall: What is "lactic fermentation"?



Didn't mean to hijack the thread. Sorry.

 

[KristyHall]

Quote:
I dehydrate until as dry as possible. Freeze 24-48 hours to kill any possible bugs. Dehydrate another 1-2 hours. Once cooled, place in "freezer baggie" inside a canning jar. Fill to top. Close bag, squeezing out any extra air. Screw lid on canning jar. Wrap glass jar in dark paper (we use construction paper ... an art project for homeschooling) and label contents and date. Store in cool dry place (basement is ok).

Even in humid places, this should work. I mean, won't stand up to submersion in water but still ... take precautions.

Sometimes I place the jars in a bucket, and seal with dessicant. Definitely keeps out moisture.

KristyHall: What is "lactic fermentation"?



Didn't mean to hijack the thread. Sorry.

it is a form of food preservation by allowing it to ferment or "sour" under controlled conditions. Traditional Sauerkraut is an example.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

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I highly disagree. People think wheat and corn is all a chicken should eat, which is completely the opposite. For grains, there's options like Amaranth, Quinoa, Corn, Wheat, Barley, Millet, Sorghum, Tef, Oats, and plenty others I can't currently name. Many of them enjoy different climates like cool and dry, or hot and wet, or mild and moderate, etc. Even here in the soggy, dark Pacific Northwest, there are crops one can grow.


But, back to the point - Crops aren't what a bird should solely rely on. There's plenty other stuff out there. When we started out living on the land in America, we fed our poultry plenty of winter squash, greens, produce, fruit, seeds, etc. Especially even seafood.


Just because a bird is dual purpose doesn't mean it is a pig. Even breeds like Araucanas are small yet very meaty for their size, and don't eat much, and are GREAT foragers, excellent fliers, and super broody moms.

I know these things, Illia, and I agree with you.

If I lived anywhere but Alaska, I wouldn't shy away from a heavier bird. (And P.S. The Araucana has been very much on my radar, lately, if I can find a line with excellent fertility!)

Grain is not something that is inclined to thrive here, any kind. Barley grows best, and oats can be coaxed out, and wheat in a good year, but that's about it. The extension services have tested all the grains you mention and so far nothing's gone into production, so I must assume they don't thrive, and when things don't thrive they require a lot more energy than they're worth! Wintering things over is our major problem up here. Rabbits would be our primary source of domestic meat since they are small and fast growing and can be fed largely on weeds in the summer if need be. To be honest, I'm not sure what I would do to keep them alive through the winter if they couldn't make it on stored carrots and willow, again assuming shipping up grains and alfalfa isn't an option.

(Everyone has their own idea of an "Apocalypse scenario".)

Chickens would be more for eggs, and at the end of the season only a handful would be gathered up to winter, just like with the rabbits. Just enough to get you started again for the next season. Smaller, thrifty, flighty birds with good laying habits are what I'm looking at these days. It just stands to reason that a smaller bird needs less to survive, which makes them better suited to living entirely off forage in the summer.

I would probably not end up keeping any domestics, to be honest. Cultivating hay and grain from this landscape would be a full time job. I'd just focus on growing as many veggies as possible and rely on nature for my meat and protein. It's a bit of a unique situation up here. If it doesn't naturally live in the wild here, it probably takes more to keep it alive than someone without outside resources could offer, and if it lives in the wild...well, just let nature raise it for you and harvest as needed.

That being said, there are colonies of feral rabbits in several areas that do very well year-round, and I'm not convinced you couldn't eventually create a hardy Alaskan landrace chicken through natural selection, given the right ingredients to start with and just a little nurturing.

Here is some inspiration for you:
Tibetan chickens
http://ps.fass.org/cgi/content/full/86/7/1384

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
I dehydrate until as dry as possible. Freeze 24-48 hours to kill any possible bugs. Dehydrate another 1-2 hours. Once cooled, place in "freezer baggie" inside a canning jar. Fill to top. Close bag, squeezing out any extra air. Screw lid on canning jar. Wrap glass jar in dark paper (we use construction paper ... an art project for homeschooling) and label contents and date. Store in cool dry place (basement is ok).

Even in humid places, this should work. I mean, won't stand up to submersion in water but still ... take precautions.

Sometimes I place the jars in a bucket, and seal with dessicant. Definitely keeps out moisture.

KristyHall: What is "lactic fermentation"?



Didn't mean to hijack the thread. Sorry.

it is a form of food preservation by allowing it to ferment or "sour" under controlled conditions. Traditional Sauerkraut is an example.

Salting and pickling are definately forms of preservation. Look at KimChee, Sauerkraut... Sauerkraut is very interesting stuff. Its only made with salt. As well as Fermentation. Cheese making is a way to preserve milk. And Many cultures ferment milk to make an alcaholic drink.

FWIW The second step in fermentation is Vinegar. The first step is alcahol. Both purified (distilled) can be used as antescepic. Many of us know the value of Vinegar its something that should be on that list of need to knows in a post apocolypic world. both can be used as preservatives both can be used to "clean" things.... Vinegar is actually alot better because its an acid that PH is excellent for killing microorganisms and molds. Alcahol not as much.

The other thing to use for preserving food and or making food edible is alkali. Native americans discovered that corn soaked in water made from the ashes of their fires was more nutritios. Those ash soaked corn kernals turn blue. Wood ash water distilled down becomes Lye. Lye and animal fat can be used to make soap. Dont know how much of each. I believe it also has applications in tanninng leather but Id have to do some digging to be sure.

Lye can be used to Turn Olives edible Dad and I could strip one Olive tree in about two hours and get eighty gallons of olives With the use of lye to remove the bitterness and finally Vinegar to nutralize the lye. Believe it or not after we were done we had to beat our friends and family off for a Jar of olives. (once the vinegar has done its job these olives are only mildly acidic).

Its also used for reconstituting dried corn to an edible kernel.... Homony. Very very interesting process Most of us are familiar with Grits. Grits that are made from homony... are different. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hominy

 

[jason_mazzy]

quinoa would probably be the best grain to feed any flock. it is one of the only plant proteins to have all essential amino acids